Pennsylvania · UplandRuffed grouse

Pennsylvania's own grouse management program splits the state into a North Grouse Zone and a South Grouse Zone for season-setting, and the underlying population data show a real, large density gap between them, not just an administrative line: PGC's Ruffed Grouse Harvest Management Framework assigns the North Zone (WMUs 1B, 2F, 2G, 3A, 3B, 3C -- the Northwest and Northcentral PGC regions plus the northern tier of the Northeast region) flush-rate population thresholds roughly 60 percent higher than the South Zone (WMUs 1A, 2A-2E, 3D, 4A-4E, 5A-5D) at every tier (example: the 'High' threshold is North at least 1.58 flushes per hour vs. South at least 0.98), and PGC's own reporting states the North Zone 'represents grouse strongholds in PA,' historically accounting for roughly 68 percent of statewide hunting hours and 86 percent of statewide harvest. PGC's 2019 Grouse and Woodcock Status Report gives a finer six-region breakdown (Northwest, Northcentral, Northeast, Southwest, Southcentral, Southeast) with region-specific 35-year flush-rate averages, identifying the Northwest and Northcentral regions -- the state's largely forested Allegheny high plateau, including Potter, Tioga, Clinton, Lycoming, Cameron, McKean, and Elk counties among others -- as having historically produced the highest abundance, while noting the Southcentral and Northeast regions currently underperform their own habitat potential and the Southeast region's smaller population shows notably high West Nile Virus antibody survival. This is a genuine density-region pattern layered on top of a statewide huntable range, not a uniform distribution.